On July 17, 2023, NASA’s four Starling CubeSats successfully deployed after having launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, shown in this image. via NASA https://ift.tt/NRoz0fp

Birds don’t fly this high. Airplanes don’t go this fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago. The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe and challenges description. Pictured here […]

As the International Space Station orbited 259 miles above North Africa, clouds covered the sky. To the bottom right of the image, one of the station’s roll-out solar arrays peeks through. via NASA https://ift.tt/bThLUlu

What’s happening in the night sky? To help find out, telescopes all over the globe will be pointing into deep space. Investigations will include trying to understand the early universe, finding and tracking Earth-menacing asteroids, searching for planets that might contain extra-terrestrial life, and monitoring stars to help better understand our Sun. The featured composite […]

One of three specially designed, fully electric, environmentally friendly crew transportation vehicles for Artemis missions sits at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 11, 2023. via NASA https://ift.tt/v4lpnPM

What’s happening around this star? No one is sure. CW Leonis is the closest carbon star, a star that appears orange because of atmospheric carbon dispersed from interior nuclear fusion. But CW Leonis also appears engulfed in a gaseous carbon-rich nebula. What causes the nebula’s complexity is unknown, but its geometry of shells and arcs […]

Now this was a view with a thrill. From Mount Tschirgant in the Alps, you can see not only nearby towns and distant Tyrolean peaks, but also, weather permitting, stars, nebulas, and the band of the Milky Way Galaxy. What made the arduous climb worthwhile this night, though, was another peak — the peak of […]

This stunning infrared image was released one year ago as the James Webb Space Telescope began its exploration of the cosmos. The view of the early Universe toward the southern constellation Volans was achieved in 12.5 hours of exposure with Webb’s NIRCam instrument. Of course the stars with six spikes are well within our own […]

Work is being done on the Orion spacecraft for NASAs crewed Artemis II, Artemis III, and Artemis IV missions at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. via NASA https://ift.tt/w4QlWTL

Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) was just spotted in March, another comet found by the NASA funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. On July 1 this Comet ATLAS reached perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun. Shortly afterwards the telescopic comet was captured in this frame sporting a pretty greenish coma and faint, narrow ion tail […]